A Change of Scenery
by jake paulers
Summary: The somewhat lovable family to everyone has a dirty little secret of their own. Turning to life on the streets of Chicago they soon begin to show whats been going on behind closed doors. They all must help and care for one another, but will they survive?


A Change of Scenery

In the quiet suburban town of Vernon Hills, Illinois lived a happy, well liked family known as The Backyardigans. To many, this family conveyed a good image to look up to due to their outstanding ability of helping out their community. Uniqua and Tyrone volunteer at the local animal shelter while the other Backyardigans such as Tasha and Pablo volunteer their time at the local homeless shelter where they feed and help house many homeless people. Austin is seen as a hero to many in his community for the many life changing and life saving procedures he has performed in his many years of being a licensed doctor at the local hospital. However, by being seen as a proper family, the Backyardigans were able to hide their dark secret of illegal drug trafficking and manufacturing. When times became rough, it caused them to be evicted from their home with the infamous backyard used for growing their own marijuana and for when they have made many "trips" around the world together. As a result, they were left to live on the streets and Uniqua, Tyrone, Tasha, and Pablo became drug addicted, losing much of the money they saved from their sales.

After living on the streets for a full week, Austin envisions a plan for finally getting back on their feet. Late on a Thursday afternoon, they all meet up in the alley they call "home" for a meeting called by Austin.

"Listen up, I have a plan for our current situation." Austin declared.

With confused but interested expressions on each of the remaining Backyardigans faces, they began to listen closely to what was being said.

"Due to our impeccable image to the public, we can start by selling other drugs such as cocaine, crack, meth, magic mushrooms and the classic opioids such as painkillers. We could make an increasing amount of money from selling them during the epidemic happening right now." whispered Austin to the others.

Tasha, with a surprised expression on her face, began to wonder where Austin's head was at. "Austin, are you crazy?".

How are we going to be able to obtain these drugs without getting caught?" replied Tasha in an almost whisper.

"Tasha calm down," replied Austin.

"I have already thought that detail out, due to our clean record and impeccable image to the public, nobody is going to question me about the sudden amount of opioids missing from the hospital. Then we can move into the inner city of Chicago and proceed with this operation by also attracting new customers to our business." concluded Austin with a smirk on his face.

The meeting went on for another hour discussing every minor and major detail of the well constructed plan.

The next day, Austin was about to start working at the hospital like any other typical day but that Friday was different for Austin because that was the day he would start by stealing small amounts of opioids. He prepared himself for this day for hours that Thursday acting out various scenes that may go down whether good or bad, he was prepared for it all. But, what Austin wasn't prepared for was the toll on his emotions and the amount of nervousness running throughout his body was something he had no preparation for. Sweating like he just came back from a run, Austin quickly began to think out a plan for a time he would be able to strike without being caught by a coworker or camera.

Then it clicked in Austin's mind, " How could I be so dumb?" Austin thought to himself, "I'm the head of the hospital, so I have a key to every room including the security room."

With a sudden boost of confidence, Austin turned on his charm and began briskly walking to the security room. With a hesitant look on Austin's face, he begins to second guess himself but again builds up the courage to carry out the job. He begins to do a double take around the seemingly empty hallway to ensure nobody would witness what was about to happen. Austin takes a deep breath, walks in the security room and is greeted by a familiar face, his friend, Thomas. He had no remorse for what he was about to do. Austin turned on his charm and began to continue to carry out the plan.

"What are you doing in here Bud? I haven't seen you in awhile!" exclaimed Thomas.

"You didn't hear? You have the rest of the day off to be with your family." replied Austin.

"Oh, no I didn't get an email about that but thanks for letting me know I'll see you Monday then, bye." replied Thomas in a confused but joyful tone.

Thomas begins to gather up his stuff and headed home leaving Austin alone in the security room.

Once the door closed completely, a grin began to form on Austin's smug face.

"Wow, that was way easier than I thought, Thomas is so gullible," Austin whispered to himself in almost a chuckle.

"All I have to do is freeze the camera so I can slip in and out without a trace." continued Austin.

Quickly without hesitation, he froze the camera that looked out over the room full of all the medication you could ever think of and hastily began to walk to the room before anybody began to notice what was happening. Austin with his lunchbox in one hand and keys in the other, peeks around each corner to make sure he would have enough time to make his move. Calmly, he walks into the room and locks the door behind him. He then rapidly begins to stash numerous bottles of prescription painkillers and many other opioids in his lunchbox, coat and any other crevice he could fit them in. Austin unlocks the door to the medication room and begins to briskly walk back to the security room where he unfreezes the camera, leaves the security room, and fully exits the hospital.

"Wow I did it, I really did it." Austin thought to himself in almost complete shock.

However, he had to get a grip on himself and head back to the hidden alley where him and the other Backyardigans had been living for what seemed like forever to him in his mind.

Slowly, walking his way down the nauseating alley full of passed out drug users and homeless men and women fighting over any remaining piece of food left over in the nearby garbage cans now becomes more fearful. He begins to walk hastily until he then sees the familiar faces of his brothers and sisters huddled around a fire made in a metal trash can.

"Hey!" shouted Austin.

Suddenly, they all turn around to see Austin with a smug grin on his face, "Austin!" they all began to shout at once.

Rapidly, all at once, they began to question Austin, "Were you able to get the stuff?" murmured Tyrone.

"How much were you able to get?" questioned Tasha.

"Did you almost get caught?" hollered Pablo.

Austin, overwhelmed by the commotion, begins to become irritated ,"Guys!" Austin shouts, "I was able to sneak in and grab the stuff we needed and some extra too." Austin continued, "How much money do we have left in our savings?".

"About $150." replied Tyrone.

"Great! That's enough for all of us to take a train to Chicago and become what we were destined to be." responded Austin in an enthusiastic tone.

"What do you mean what we are destined to be?" questioned Uniqua.

"He means drug dealers you dumb druggie!" bellowed Pablo.

"Alright, everybody calm down and listen. Tomorrow at 10 am, we are gonna gather up all the belongings we have left and the opioids and head to Chicago where we will become the most well known drug dealers throughout the city." announced Austin in a smug tone.

That night all the Backyardigans went to bed with a mind full of hope to be able to get out of their current situation.

A bright, sunny Saturday morning the perfect day to carry out this elaborate plan. Austin, Pablo, Tyrone, and Tasha began packing the little amount of food and blankets they had left while Uniqua was still sound asleep, drunk and with a dirty needle laying next to her.

"Get up you old drunk!" shouted Pablo.

Uniqua, still half drugged up with a belt tied around her arm, began to try and pull herself up while stumbling every other step.

"Come on everyone we are leaving in twenty minutes." announced Austin in a stern voice.

Slowly dragging all their belongings along with them, they finally made it to the train station where they could then follow out the rest of their plan. Arriving in Chicago around noon, they all hopped off the train and began their journey of starting their own business. Days went by before they had their first customer until one fateful Wednesday afternoon which then attracted a flock of new customers. With all of their new customers, they sold out of their entire supply in the same week and made $1500.

"Austin, what are we going to do we don't have any opioids left? What are we going to sell now?" questioned Tasha.

"Tasha, we're going to use some of the money to buy other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, acid, and anything else we can find throughout this wasteland of a city." replied Austin in a confident tone.

After many hours of searching throughout the city, they finally found it! The Holy Grail of drugs, as many drugs as you could think of, they were all there, including one they have never seen or heard of. This mysterious liquid substance erupted feelings of shakiness throughout all the Backyardigans, until Uniqua came up with a plan.

"Let's all try it to establish the effects of this." announced Uniqua to the others.

"Shut up, you just want a new drug to get hooked on Uniqua." annoyingly replied Tasha.

"Actually, that might be a good idea to test it out before we sell it so we know how we can market this drug to the public." remarked Austin, "come on, let's all grab a needle and try it out."

Moments later, they had all shot up the unknown substance which was later found out to be herocaine, a deadly drug that allows the user to hallucinate and disconnect from reality. They all wake up in a maze, confused by their surroundings they soon began to wander into this enormous maze. Until suddenly Thomas, Austin's friend and coworker, shows up out of nowhere.

"What are you doing here Thomas?" Austin asked hesitantly.

"I'm here to help you through this intricate maze full of mystery, follow me and you should be safe from what's hidden throughout this maze."

What felt like hours to the Backyardigans, was actually just an hour; and the maze was just a hallucination which lead them to begin running throughout the streets of Chicago higher than a kite. Soon, it lead them to their sudden but slow overdose; causing them to rot in an abandoned alley on a dirty street in Chicago. The Backyardigans risked everything and ended up with nothing.


End file.
